The easiest way to save money on RV repairs is giving your rig a little bit of love. But while other techs out there are giving these LONG maintenance lists that involve giving your RV a 72 point inspection every three days, I’m here to give you a thorough but realistic maintenance plan for you to follow.

Most of the work that I do as a tech could have been prevented with a little maintenance, so I’m basically out here telling you how not pay me.

We’re going to see how this business model works.

I also have a FREE pdf guide that will walk you through step by step how to do everything we overview today. You can find that at RVRepairWoman.com/guide

You Got this!

Once a Year

Let’s begin with the projects that you only need to worry about once a year.

Sanitize Fresh Water Tank

Starting right off at the top with something I KNOW a lot of people are worried about, because its quickly becoming one of my most viewed videos I’ve put out - Sanitizing your fresh water tank.

We want to be putting bleach through our fresh water tank system at least once a year to get out any mold, mildew, or bacteria that we don’t want to be drinking.

Some people who are REALLY into water cleanliness go through this process quarterly or even monthly. I like being realistic and aim for once a year.

I have a whole video that walks you through in detail how to do this. But to give you a quick overview - all this process entails is pouring 1/4 of bleach into our fresh water tank for every 15 gallons the tank can hold.

Bypass the hot water heater. Then go around to each of your faucets and run them until you smell bleach at the faucet. This is going to help us get all that bleachy goodness dispersed throughout your whole RV.

Let your RV sit overnight. Have a glass of wine because you’re sure as heck not drinking the water. Tell the haters your RV tech told you you had to.

And then the next day you’re just going to drain your fresh water tank via the faucets. Keep filling the tank with more water and draining it through the faucets until you no longer smell bleach at anywhere.

You got this!

Flush Hot Water Tank

Speaking of keeping your water clean lets go over how to clean the hot water tank because we bypassed it during the fresh water sanitizing.

The main reason why we didn’t want bleach getting into the hot water tank during the last adventure was because a lot of people have Suburban water heaters. Suburbans have steel tanks that are prone to corrosion if we get bleach in there. Which is no good.

Technically if you have a Dometic water heater you could put bleach through it, because you have an aluminum tank. But you’re going to want to do this flushing that I’m about to talk about anyway so why risk it.

Okay so flushing your hot water tank. I’ve got a whole video on this too but here’s the down and dirty version.

You’re going pour 3-5 gallons of distilled vinegar into your hot water tank, top it off with water, and then let it sit ON for 8-12 hours.

The next day when you drain the tank you’ll give a spray down with a tank wand and (if you haven’t done this in a while) a BUNCH of crud is going to come out.

That’s crud we don’t want to be drinking and cleaning ourselves with. And if it works its way into our pipes it can destroy our water pressure.

Giving the hot water tank a clean out once a year is going to massively prolong the lifespan of your hot water heater.

My realistic recommendation is to do this once a year. But honestly if you live in a place with really hard water (like here in Las Vegas) you could really do it more often.

Replace Anode Rod or Plug

While you’re flushing your hot water tank you can easily check this next item off of your maintenance check list.

If you have a Suburban Water heater you have something called an anode rod in it. Its a sacrificial rod that prevents corrosion in your tank. (Remember early when we talked about how you had a steel tank?)

The idea is that rod is going to corrode away instead of the tank.

That anode rod should be switched out when it reaches 50% corrosion or annually whichever comes first.

Luckily in order to pour the vinegar into your hot water tank during the flush you’ll have to take out your anode rod anyway. All it takes is a 11/16” socket.

If you have a Dometic or an Atwood you should have a plastic plug instead of an anode rod because your tank is made of aluminum.

That plug is made to melt if your tank water gets too hot and should be replaced annually.

It’s one of the things keeping your water heater from turning into a bomb if it gets too hot. Which is great. Because here at RV Repair Woman we take a hard line stance, of no bombs.

Just like the suburban water heater, in order to flush your tanks you’ll have to take that plug out anyway. So flushing your tanks is a great time to change it out.

DO NOT replace that plastic plug with a brass one or an anode rod no matter how many dude bros on Reddit make it sound like a good idea.

Adding an anode rod to a Dometic will actually jumpstart corrosion in your tank, not help fight it.

And a brass plug won’t melt if the tank gets too hot. Remember… no bombs.

Inspect Breaker Panel

Moving away from the water and on to electrical (two things that should not go together)!

Once a year I want you to give your RV’s breaker panel a once over.

Many breaker panels come from the factory not tightened to spec and driving down the road can also loosen them. This is the central hub for power in your rig, so you don’t want anything to be loose. Here is how to safely tighten everything.

1. Unplug your RV from shore power then tuck that bad boy away in storage so there is no chance a nice passerby re-plugs in it for you.

2. Throw your battery disconnect switch and if you have a second, disconnect your negative cable from your battery for good measure.

3. Then open up your breaker panel and grab your handy dandy multimeter. Set that sucker to AC volts and test across the three places shown in the pictures below. You should see 0V for all of these tests. This tells us that there is no power anywhere and its safe to put our meat fingers inside.

4. Once you’ve confirmed power is completely off. Use a #2 square head bit and tighten any screws you see holding wires down. Once everything is hand tight close your box up and replug everything back in.

Its that easy!

Twice a Year

That about wraps up our yearly maintenance, now lets go into the things you should probably be doing at least twice a year.

For my semiannual maintenance… (fun fact semiannual means twice a year, biannual means every two years. I had to look that up).

Ahem.

For my semiannual maintenance I usually think about them when we spring forward and fall back.

Check Battery Liquid Level

RV Repair Woman recommends giving your batteries a once over twice a year. The reason why this falls into the twice a year category and not once a year is because your batteries are suuuper important AND they are pretty expensive to replace.

A new 12V lead acid battery is going to cost you around $200 right now. A lot of rigs have at least two of them. So there’s $400 before you even pay for the labor for someone to pull them out for you.

So lets help the batteries you have last a long as possible.

The biggest thing we want to check and that NOBODY does is the batteries liquid level.

If you have flooded batteries you will know because they will have caps on the top that you can take off. Flooded batteries (or lead acid batteries, the name is interchangeable) get their name because they have water inside of them to help them keep cool and that water needs to be topped off every now and again.

To do this you’ll take a cap off of the top of the battery and have a look inside. You should see metal plates down inside of the battery. The water level should completely cover those metal plates.

If the water level is lower than the desired amount you can top it off with a funnel and some distilled water. Do not use tap water for this. This is a time to be boujie about your water choices.

I’ve got a video walking you through this too. You can find it here.

Tighten Battery Connections

While you’re there giving your batteries a once over, let’s also look at tightening your connections. You should do this even if you don’t have lead acid batteries btw.

The shaking from driving can loosen your battery connections. Loose contacts lead to more resistance. More resistance means your battery is working harder to get you the power you want.

When tightening the nuts on your batteries you don’t want your wrench to touch a battery terminal and anything metal on your coach at the same time. If you do it will arc and potentially shock you.

That’s why I recommend using an insulated socket wrench like this one. That way there is as little exposed metal as possible on your tool and the part that is moving around is covered in rubber to avoid arcing.

Clean off Corrosion on Batteries

And the last bit of love we are going to give to our batteries is to clean off any corrosion we see on the battery terminals.

Here’s how to do that.

Turn off the battery disconnect. Then disconnect any wires from your batteries, starting with the negative terminal and then the positive.

Pro Tip: Take a picture of your batteries beforehand to help with rehooking up wires later.

Then Mix 1 TBSP of baking soda with a little bit of water and go at those terminals with that mixture and an old toothbrush.

Clean off the paste when you’re done and then slather those posts with petroleum jelly to prevent future corrosion. You’re now free to reconnect your terminals, positive first. Make sure to reference that picture you took earlier.

And that’s the low down on giving your batteries some love. If you need in the guide I also have a one page on what to do to protect your batteries when you are putting the RV into storage.

I as a tech make good money every month off of people not knowing how to treat their batteries right. And as much as I LOVE getting paid, a lot of what I do is really preventable.

Clean AC

I am from Las Vegas. I know how important AC is. 10 minutes of tender loving care in the spring and fall can save you from melting your butt off mid-summer when its 100+ outside. Here’s how to clean your AC coils.

I’ve got a video on how to do this, but here’s the quick run down.

1. Turn off all the air conditioning breakers.

2. On the roof, remove the outer and inner shrouds to expose the upper plenum.

3. Lay a towel in front of the coils where it opens into the RV to prevent overspray.

4. Use the cap of the coil cleaner to carefully remove excess dirt from the coils.

5. Spray your coil cleaner liberally all over those coils.

6. Repeat steps 4-5 for the back boils then replace your shrouds.

Just 8 square inches of restricted airflow reduces your AC’s cooling power but 1 degree F. That’s a smaller square footage than my iPhone mini.

So not only will you be hotter, but your AC will also have to work longer to get the RV to temp. Over time this means that we’re shortening the lifespan of the AC.

Cleaning it frequently helps prevent all that.

Vacuum Out All Appliance Compartments

While we are in that spring cleaning mood let pull out a vacuum and clean out all of our appliance compartments. I’m focusing mainly here on your fridge, your water heater, and your furnace if your RV has an access panel for it. (Not all them do.)

All of your appliances that run off of propane have an ignition chamber somewhere on there. If too much dust and debris gets in there then it can cause ignition problems.

Cleaning these compartments out twice a year and help insure that your fridge stays cold for you when you need it.

Check Bearings for Noise

The bearings are an often overlooked part of the RV.

They use a heavy grease to relieve friction between the spindle and the wheel when driving down the road. This grease loses its viscosity over time and needs to be replaced.

Now this most likely isn’t something you are going to do yourself unless you already know how to. It takes special tools and can be a pain in the butt.

I don’t do this type of work.

What you do need to do is to find someone to repack your bearings for you.

Go find a person unless you are a person.

Some techs are going to say you need this done very year, but I’m just being realistic here that I know most people aren’t going to do it that often.

This type of work takes a long time and is really messy so tech’s charge a premium for it.

Please if you can, get your wheel bearings packed each year. If you never get them repacked the bearings themselves can lockup. When that happens your wheel looses the ability to spin.

If that happens at speed… you can imagine the repercussions.

But if getting this done once a year isn’t in the budget here is the best compromise I can come up with.

I would say twice a year jack your wheels up and give them a spin. If you hear any metal on metal noise its time to get your bearings repacked.

Inspect Roof

People do not get on their roofs enough. I feel I’ve been very reasonable in this guide, but this is one of my hills that I’ll die on. You should be inspecting your roof at least twice a year. If you’re not a heights person find a friend, call a tech, or pull a favor from your neighbor. Here’s what you’re looking for.

Holes and Tears Water is the enemy when it comes to roofs so you’re on the lookout for anywhere where water could make its way into your rig. If you see a hole or a tear in your roof you want a tech to get on that quickly before it rains again so you can keep water out.

Seals Any place where a hole had to be drilled into your roof to mount something there should be a sealant to keep water from getting in.

The sealant is most likely a product called DICOR lap sealant and its pretty easy to get your hands on. It comes in a tube like caulk.

Always be careful to pronounce the L in caulk.

While you’re on your roof inspect the DICOR that’s there for cracks. If you see some small surface cracking, clean the area around the crack with non-chlorinated break cleaner and then layer on some more sealant over the top with a caulking gun.

For deeper cracks or if the current caulking is falling off use a non-marring pry bar to scrape off the bad sealant, clean the roof with the non-chlorinated break cleaner, and then lay down a new line of DICOR with your caulking gun.

Frequently

Okay those are all the maintenance items that we need to schedule in our diary. Here are the things that we are just going to be doing day to day to keep our RV in tip top shape.

Exercise Water Pump and Generator

The best way to maintain your RV’s water pump is just to use it.

If you’ve been through RV Basics to Badass (my FREE RV beginners course link in the description) then you know there are 2 ways to have water in your RV. Your fresh water tanks OR hooking up to city water.

So many people just hook up to city water every day and never exercise their pump.

If water isn’t moving through this thing, algae and grime can build up over time and make the pump fail.

Even if you are a camp queen I recommend routinely filling your holding tank and using your water pump.

Pro Tip: Don’t run your water pump while hooked up to city water. It can cause an internal check valve to fail and allow the water pump to pump water into your fresh water tanks instead of out. Not good.

Your Generator wants to be ran regularly for similar reasons. The #1 reason for generator problems in RV’s is bad gas. Running that genie roughly once a month under a load will push bad gas out of the system and keep it from building up.

Keep Furnace Vent Uncovered and Clean

The biggest thing we are worried about with the furnace is the return air. You’re looking for a vent cover that looks like this.

It’s sometimes on the floor which means we need to make sure we don’t ever have any rugs, dirty laundry, or dog beds sitting on top of it.

And as you’re going about life try to keep debris from getting into the vent. The sail switch is the #1 culprit of furnace woes and its really prone to getting dog fur stuck in it.

Keeping your furnace return air vent cover clean can mean your furnace is there for you when you need it.

Inspect Shore Power Cable

Your power cable is the most often used 120 V device on your rig. It’s also exposed to the elements.

I’m talking sunlight, rain, lawnmowers, and critters.

Now real talk, its recommended that you inspect this cable from end to end every time before you plug in to shore power. But I‘m also realistic that most people aren’t going to do that.

So at the very least, keep an eye out for any cuts or deterioration of the cable as you uncoil it. And before you plug in just take a gander at the plug and make sure there isn’t any corrosion or dirt on it.

If any contact is brown you can use an emery cloth to remove some deep buildup of corrosion.

If any contact is melted GET A NEW POWER CABLE!

I’ve had customers be like “well its still works!” (shutter)

Clean and Lube Landing Gear

Before you go to raise your landing gear, if you’ve been a particularly muddy or sandy environment, you can give the shaft a quick wipe down with a rag to prevent dirt from getting into the system. You can always use a penetrating degreaser for stuck on grime.

Once a month or so, or after a big rain, lube your landing gear shafts. You’re ideally looking for a dry lube with PFTE, but a dry silicone lube will work as well.

Use Enzyme Treatment

Add an enzyme and bacteria based treatment to your black and your gray tanks along with that initial water you put in following package instructions.

I like Unique RV Digest-it.

These types of treatments do a far better job of breaking down solids and controlling odors than the cheapo pods from Walmart.

At the very least use some kind of treatment. It’ll help your RV’s black tanks a ton in the long run.

If you would like more RV black tank tips check out that guide I mentioned. It has a three page spread on avoiding black tank smells.

You Got This.

And that is the RV Repair Woman’s realistic guide to RV maintenance.

Is there more that you can do? Of Course! But these items are going to get you the biggest bang for your buck.

If you were like “woah Emily that was a lot of stuff I need to do. I got into RVing to drink mimosas in Las Vegas anytime I want, not be cleaning the dang thing every month.”

I got you. If you’re in the Las Vegas area I have maintenance plans where I’ll come out to you a couple times a year and do all this work for you (add more).

Because I can batch stuff together this way and do multiple things each call, its cheaper for you than if you had each thing done separately. And you have the added bonus of having a certified tech giving your rig a once over a couple times a year, so we’re more likely to catch problems before they occur.

You can learn more about those at RVRepairWoman.com/maintenance

You Got This!